The Cannes Lions is about acknowledging the greatest creative works in advertising, but it’s also a platform to bring about change. In March, Cannes Lions unveiled a new award category — the Glass Lion: The Lion for Change — to honor ad campaigns that address issues of gender inequality or prejudice. And many of the panels and events are rooted in that theme too. On Day 4 of his Cannes Lions journey, BETC/Havas São Paulo assistant copywriter Arthur Zambone shares his day that is filled with inspiration and messages of women empowerment.

10:10 a.m. Lumière Theatre, Women and Cinema

Did you know that only 9% of commercials and 14% of movies are directed by women? It’s an alarming, and disappointing, statistic.

This morning, I attended “Women and Cinema”. The panel put the spotlight on women in the creative industry, and, perhaps more importantly, the lack of female representation in director roles. This was the first panel that I attended, and it really made me think about the experience of women in cinema. It was a nice conversation with Saatchi & Saatchi’s Global Chief Creative Officer Kate Stanner and CEO of cinema advertising giant Pearl & Dean Kathryn Jacob, moderated by UNICEF’s special advisor Claudia Gonzalez Romo.

American supermodel Karlie Kloss started off with a funny statement: “I feel like Hanna Montana.” She was explaining the stark contrast between life backstage as a fashion model and the more everyday, routine of life as a woman. With millions of followers, Karlie used her platform to make a difference in the lives of young women. She launched the scholarship, Kode with Karlie, which gives 20 teenage girls the opportunity to enroll in a two-week summer program to learn to code.

Now, she uses her influence in social media to get attention and visibility to the program and to show to people that girls have the power to do anything, including building an app.

Inspired by the last panels, I decided to check the works that were inspired by and created to empower women. I found some amazing pieces like “Fearless Girl” that demonstrated female empowerment in a very simple, effective way.

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The creators behind this idea had the brilliant insight to put a fearless girl next to a classic figure of Wall Street. The idea needs no technology; it needs no weeks of execution; it didn’t need a multi-million dollar budget. It was just a statue—that made a total difference. Amazing.

14:20 p.m. – Lions Innovation

I had a great time looking at the innovations. On the Creative Inspiration stages, there are so many things happening at the same time: panels, brand activations, people walking with VR glasses. It’s a good place to observe people and how they’re amazed by new technologies.

15:00 p.m. Lumière Theatre, The Changing Face of Original

MTV programming executive Susanne Daniels and Kevin Allocca, YouTube’s head of culture and trends, shared insights into how online video is transforming popular culture. They showed to the audience how inspiring it is working with this kind of material and presented some of the latest news about the YouTube as a brand, like the promotion of Katy Perry’s new album and the new show of Demi Lovato, who joined the conversation.